Maldon Restaurant Guide

A day trip to this legendary and descriptively named seafood mecca has been a feature of the Essex coast for decades. Take along your own BYO wine and bread and be prepared for the interior to look exactly as you would imagine from the titular ‘shed’. Long loved for its “great seafood platters and daily specials” (crab, cockles, mussels, prawns “don’t get fresher than this”, alongside fine smoked salmon and mackerel); the only problem, as ever, is “if you can get in” – particularly complicated in summer when you absolutely have to book. Top Tip – lobster must be pre-ordered.

“Pub grub done the Galvin way” is to be found in the chef brothers’ home county at their “beautiful pub, restaurant and garden, set in stunning countryside” (if “in the arse end of nowhere”, according to a day tripper from South Woodford). “The cooking here is very good with something of a European vibe (with pub standards to fall back on if you choose to dine in the bar rather than the more formal restaurant setting)”. “The staff always make you feel welcome, and the landlady, Katie, is particularly charming”. Top Tip – “an unusual highlight is Christmas Day lunch, which is well thought-out and nicely cooked (Chateaubriand or halibut if you hate turkey!)”.

Focused on sustainability (and to a certain extent on veganism), John Lawson’s small spot has won attention (including a recent visit with a TV crew and Michel Roux) for his “amazing” cooking, served in a tasting menu on Friday and Saturday evenings (with lunch service also available on those days and Thursday). One local fan approves “many delicious meals eaten here”.

“Who needs Pizza Express” when you’ve got this bottomless Neapolitan pie joint – a “great concept” (since exported to Colchester) where you press the button for service and “pizza slices keep coming round” in a form of culinary roulette; since no two slices are the same, “you get to sample loads of exciting flavour combinations” that “one would not ordinarily put on a whole pie” (“the sweet chilli chicken with honey is a favourite!”).

Paul Wendholt’s tiny operation serves a 9-12 course tasting menu at £80 per person, with servings varying in size (from bite-size snacks to full plates). We received too few reports for a full rating this year, but one promising review continues to justify its inclusion as a tip when in the area: “exceptional tasting menu food and that you can chat about while watching the preparation of the dishes. Ambience is less exceptional, but then you are engrossed anyway”.